Want to create a cozy home? These five decorating tips are all you need to turn your house into a home. Best of all, these home decor ideas are infinitely customizable—and they’ll only feel cozier as you personalize them for your family’s needs and your home’s aesthetic.
- Create “Moments” Within Your Home
The best interior designers are obsessed with creating “moments”—little, beautiful areas in homes that elicit visceral reactions from residents and visitors alike. Common places to install moments include foyers, bookshelves, sideboards and TV consoles, mantlepieces, dining room tables, and on dressers, chests, and coffee tables.
These surfaces offer homeowners the opportunity to put their own spin on things, show off their collection of favorite things, and artfully display items like coffee table books, fresh flowers, and seasonal accessories like pinecones, artificial snow, and more. Keep in mind that you can constantly update these spaces as the rest of your home decor stays the same. These “refreshes” are quick, inexpensive, and can transform a space from season to season without requiring you to overhaul your home’s design.
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- Add Texture to Your Home
Throw blankets, rugs, decorative pillows… these items are, by definition, cozy. And they can help transform your house from cold and unremarkable to warm and inviting in the blink of an eye. To add even more texture to your home, look for accents made of warm, natural materials like rattan, linen, and sheepskin.
Try displaying throw blankets at the foot of your bed, on the edge of your sofa, and on the back of armchairs. You can also add items like woven poufs, embossed leather trays, and textured placemats to your home to warm it up.
- Mix New Finds With Old Favorites
Rome wasn’t built in a day—and your cozy, inviting home won’t be, either. So while decorating a space all at once is tempting, keep in mind that your tastes will always be evolving… and that a carefully-curated home that features items from different stores (and decades) feels that much more unique.
If you’re in a rush to decorate, you can use platforms like OfferUp, and Facebook Marketplace—or even hit up a thrift store or local yard sale—to find delightful home decor that will come off as unique, eclectic, and charming. Your collection will feel natural and varied, not like you purchased it all within the span of a week.
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- Pay Close Attention to Paint Colors, Mood Lighting, and Window Treatments
Ask any interior designer, and they’ll agree: lighting is everything—and not all light is created equal. Your distinct home will pick up both sun and artificial light uniquely. If you’re considering repainting your home or apartment, adding recessed or tract lighting, or even changing your lightbulbs, take some time to evaluate how light behaves in your home throughout the day.
Homes that face certain directions pick up light differently, and that can skew paint colors to seem colder, warmer, more gold, more blue… Don’t be afraid to try different paint samples. Let them dry on your wall, and watch them as the sun shifts. You’ll also want to see how your indoor light bounces off these colors.
In general, if you’re hoping to create a cozy space, you’ll want to select warm paint colors. Remember, though, that rules were meant to be broken. If a pale purple living room feels cozy to you, so be it.
- Invest in a Signature Scent
Fancy hotels have quite a few tricks up their sleeves—and a perfect scent is one of them. As you customize your home and aim to make it warm and inviting, think about the smell that brings you and your family peace and comfort. Maybe that’s cinnamon rolls, pumpkin pie, or fresh cedar. Whatever it is, you can keep the real thing baking in the oven or burning in the fireplace or find a candle that brings that scent to life.
Whether you decide to implement one of these ideas or all five, you’re that much closer to transforming your living space into a cozy, inviting home.